Shipwreck Side Scan Images - HMAS Swan

Hawkesbury - Wobby Beach

In 1930, together with HMAS Parramatta, she was towed from Sydney to Cowan Creek to provide accommodation for prisoners who were to construct a road to Appletree Bay but the plan never eventuated. After being sold in 1933, both ships were used as carriers for construction material from Brooklyn to Milson and Peat Islands. The Swan sank in 1934.

It is said that the mostly intact vessel is lying in 13m of water close to Wobby Beach around the waters of Dangar Island

Information Provided by from Greig Berry

Greig is the Author of Shipwrecks of the New South Wales Central Coast

Greig Berry, Ivan Millington and Tony Blissett first dived this wreck back in about 1994, Greig had gone looking for the vessel in about 1992 and after 2 days, just using a paper sounder he picked up images at Little Wobbie. It than took about 18 months to get clear water in Broken Bay, hoping that the viability around the corner would be "fair" (about 3 meters)

A few years later the D.S.T.O (government) got in touch with Greig and and the Melbourne based group picked Greig up at Patonga,and then went and scanned the "Swan".

Greig says that you could see every nut and bolt on the thing. The stern and middle section of the ship are sitting upright and are covered in thin black ooze, there was also a lot of "sharp" oysters on the vessel. The bow, from the forecastle forward, has rolled over onto its port side. It's approximately 75 meters in length. Top of the wreck is 13m, with the rocks on the top right hand side of the image is not a reef, is actually the rocks on the shore line, that's how close it is to the shore

As far as a dive site goes, don't, it's poor visibility, and can only be dived top of the top of the tide, if you must. The current really rages around this bend and the sharp crustrations on the wreck can rip you to pieces. The local fisherman had known about the wreck for many years, they just didn't know it was the Swan, they called it the old gravel barge